Mode of study

UCAS Code

Start date

Flood and Coastal Engineering BSc

Overview

Applications are now open for 2018/19 entry.

The BSc top-up degree is for recent graduates of the FdSc Flood or River and Coastal Engineering Degree. Your BSc will be sponsored if you secure employment with the Environment Agency or a Risk Management Authority.

Brunel University London’s impact on the future wages of its graduates is among the best in the country compared to other universities, according to a new analysis of government data by The Economist (2017).

About the course

Developed as the top-up BSc (Hons) course for students who progress from our Foundation Degree, this course aims to give you the experience and skills you need to become an ambitious engineer to protect communities against flooding.

You will study this as a two-year, part-time degree if you have a sponsored place, or one-year, full-time if you are self-funding. Learning through intense modules and distance learning whilst in the workplace, you will enhance your knowledge of structural design, geotechnics and how to mitigate risk through environmental assessment and strategic management. This is while developing your skills in hydraulic modelling, flood estimation and engineering design.

This degree programme has been developed in partnership with the Environment Agency to address their future need for flood engineering professionals. The course is led by Brunel University London’s Department of Civil Engineering, and is co-delivered with HR Wallingford the world-leading, independent civil engineering and environmental hydraulics organisation. The combination of Brunel and HR Wallingford teaching this degree programme brings an exciting academic and professional taught programme, with a focus on practical understanding and preparing the student for both their future career and professional accreditation.

The BSc in Flood and Coastal Engineering has been designed following the guidance of the Joint Board of Moderators and is currently pending accreditation by both the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). The course is part of a programme suite that offers a full student pathway from grass roots to chartered engineering status. Following successful completion of this course, you can proceed to an Engineering MSc course to enable you to gain the educational base to achieve Chartered Engineer status.

Aims

There is currently a shortage of people with appropriate skills and experience to meet the challenge of delivering successful flood management. Flooding affects millions worldwide. It ruins homes, destroys livelihoods and threatens lives.

The Environment Agency has commissioned Brunel University London and HR Wallingford to develop this course in order to equip students with the skills, knowledge and understanding needed for a successful career in flood risk management.

It is an excellent choice for anybody interested in the environment and in engineering. You must have graduated from our Flood and Coastal Engineering FdSc or the FdSc River and Coastal Engineering provided by the University of the West of England to be eligible for this degree programme.

Enquiries

Course Content

The ethos of Flood and Coastal Engineering at Brunel stems from the initial formation of the University as a technological institution in the mid-1960s. Although you may move on to project management and supervision roles, we feel it’s important that your knowledge is firmly based on an understanding of how things are done in the real world. By the time students graduate, they have an impressive portfolio of work experience, certificates, industry contacts and skills. Our programme’s components and partnership with HR Wallingford ensure that you gain knowledge on a range of specialist engineering and flood risk topics, alongside guest lectures and experiences from the Environment Agency and other flood industry partners.

Employability

Careers

As the sponsor of the programme, the Environment Agency aims to secure a large, continual intake of new graduates to become the flood engineers of the future. Together with other flood risk management authorities, NGOs and civil engineering companies, relevant roles for flood and coastal engineering BSc graduates, include:

Building detailed flood models to describe flood risk

Developing and building flood protection schemes

Maintaining and enhancing rivers and flood risk assets

Providing expert advice about waves, estuarine, coastal, river and surface water flood risk

At Brunel we provide many opportunities and experiences within your degree programme and beyond – work-based learning, professional support services, volunteering, mentoring, sports, arts, clubs, societies, and much, much more – and we encourage you to make the most of them, so that you can make the most of yourself.

English Language Requirements

Brunel University London strongly recommends that if you will require a Tier 4 visa, you sit your IELTS test at a test centre that has been approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) as being a provider of a Secure English Language Test (SELT). Not all test centres have this status. The University can accept IELTS (with the required scores) taken at any official test centre or other English Language qualifications we accept as meeting our main award entry requirements.

However, if you wish to undertake a Pre-sessional English course to further improve your English prior to the start of your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider. This is because you will only be able to apply for a Tier 4 student visa to undertake a Pre-sessional English course if you hold a SELT from a UKVI approved test centre. Find out more information about it.

Brunel also offers our own BrunELT English Test and accepts a range of other language courses. We also have Pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet these requirements, or who wish to improve their English. Find out more information about English course and test options.

Teaching and Assessment

Teaching

Students are introduced to subject material, including key concepts, information and approaches, through a mixture of standard lectures and seminars, laboratory practicals, field work, self-study and individual research reports.

All students will be allocated a personal tutor from the Brunel University London academic staff, in accordance with the Tutoring@Brunel Policy framework. Students will meet their tutor at set times through the academic year to discuss progress. The tutor also provides a first line of pastoral support. Further support is provided by the departmental and divisional senior tutors. Where students run into more difficult academic problems, the course director and departmental director of teaching and learning are available for advice.

Assessment

Assessment will allow students to demonstrate their abilities in a range of styles relevant to professional engineers:

Assignments and essays – demonstration of depth and breadth of knowledge and written communication skills

Technical analytical reports; lab reports – ability to collect, analyse and interpret a range of evidence, including in the field and laboratory

Design reports – ability to use imagination, creativity, innovation and judgement to address a specification

Individual project – ability to plan, execute and communicate an advanced piece of research

Individual report – based on contribution as a team member to a collaborative challenge

Personal development log – develop ability to reflect on learning and planning development goals

Project proposal – ability to identify a research/design focus and produce a realistic plan for its execution

Presentations and posters – ability to summarise and communicate orally and visually

Closed book examinations – ability to quickly formulate arguments and solve problems; testing knowledge, understanding and problem solving in the main subject areas in flood and coastal engineering

Special Features

Flexible delivery in either one-year, full-time or two-years, part-time mode.

A Professional Programme, which will provide a range of experiences that will support your professional development and complement your academic and placement learning experiences, including presentations by professionals in the field, visits to conferences such as Flood Expo, incident management exercise, and visits to civil engineering schemes and Environment Agency sites.

Brunel University London’s strong emphasis on employability and preparing graduates to be “ready for work” harmonises with the BSc course’s guaranteed career profile in the Environment Agency or other flood risk management authorities, environmental and community NGOs, and commercial construction businesses.

Strong links with industry (Environment Agency and HR Wallingford) working in close collaboration with Brunel University London hosting the course delivery team.

World class facilities at HR Wallingford complement the civil engineering technical facility at Brunel University London, where the Joseph Bazalgette Laboratories have enjoyed considerable investment in new equipment, makes the course a market leader in facility provision.

Brunel University London is ranked a top 10 university in London (Complete University Guide 2017).

Accreditation

The BSc in Flood and Coastal Engineering has been designed following the guidance of the Joint Board of Moderators and is currently pending accreditation by both the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), as a basis for developing a career as a professional engineer.

Facts and Figures

Brunel’s College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences is one of the largest of its kind in the UK, with over 150 academics and a substantial and high quality pool of technical and administrative staff. As a result, we have excellent resources to support your time here as a student.